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.CO Premium Domain Re-Auction Coming Up Without Reserves

Elliot Silver
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The .CO Registry has scheduled a re-auction of some of its previous domain names that are holdovers from the 2010 landrush. The auctions will be held on Pool, and there will be no reserve prices on them ($10 minimum bid).

Some of the domain names included in the auction are:

  • OMG.CO
  • Assets.CO
  • Unique.CO
  • ComicBooks.CO
  • CosmeticDentist.CO
  • DogFood.CO
  • Funerals.CO
  • Interactive.CO
  • Namaste.CO

There will be a number of other domain names for sale aside from those I listed above. The auctions will start on Monday, October 31st at 12:00 noon (EST) and run through Monday, November 7th at 12:00 noon (EST).

The full press release for this auction as well as the upcoming Sex.CO auction (during the Traffic conference) is below:

OMG.CO!   Market for .CO Domains Heats Up with ASSETS.CO, ENGAGE.CO, INJURYLAWYERS.CO, COSMETICDENTIST.CO, LAWN.CO, INTERACTIVE.CO, and other UNIQUE.CO premium Landrush domain names soon to hit Auction Block

.CO Registry Soon to (Re)Auction 100 High Value Domain Names Held Over from Landrush Launch Phase

October 18, 2011.   Miami, Florida.   The .CO Registry will soon make a number of premium .CO domain names available to interested buyers by holding a (Re)Auction of domain names that have been held over from the company’s original Landrush launch phase, which took place in the Summer of 2010.

The Landrush (Re)Auctions will commence on Monday, October 31st at 12:00 noon and run through Monday, November 7th at 12:00 noon EST.   The (Re)Auctions will be managed by Pool.com (the same company that managed the original Landrush auctions).

Some of the names that will be made available include:

OMG.CO, ASSETS.CO, UNIQUE.CO, ETC.CO, RAD.CO, ACCIDENTLAWYERS.CO, BIGIDEAS.CO, COMICBOOKS.CO, COSMETICDENTIST.CO, DOGFOOD.CO, ENGAGE.CO, FORMS.CO, FUNERALS.CO, HIVE.CO, HUB.CO, INTERACTIVE.CO, INJURYLAWYERS.CO, LAWN.CO, OFFROAD.CO, and NAMASTE.CO

While the original Landrush auctions were “closed” (meaning that you could only participate in the bidding if you had previously applied for the domain name during the Landrush phase); the re-auctions will be “open” to all (meaning that you can participate even if you didn’t apply for the particular domain name during the Landrush).

Interested bidders can find out more information by clicking here.   Bidders are advised to register in advance for the auction and to use the next week to prepare their auction strategy – including making the appropriate business case to business partners and colleagues and ensuring the necessary funds will be available to secure key domain names.

According to Sedo.com, the world’s largest and most well-known domain market, .CO has “become the rising star in the Online Domain Marketplace,” with a robust market of buyers and sellers continuing to evolve.

“With notable recent secondary market sales such as OnlineCasino.CO for $100,000, Business.CO for $80,000, and Music.CO for $30,000, we expect the Landrush (Re)Auctions to create a lot of excitement for individuals and businesses looking to build and extend their brands online,” says Nicolai Bezsonoff, Chief Operating Officer of .CO Internet S.A.S.

SEX.CO & OTHER PREMIUM .CO NAMES TO BE AUCTIONED LIVE AT T.R.A.F.F.I.C.  – TODAY!

Today, a number of .CO domain investors will put their own domain names on the auction block during the highly anticipated T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Live Domain Name auction.   The auction will take place between 2:00PM-4:15PM EST at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and will include premium domain names such as SEX.CO, SUB.CO, HER.CO, EMOTICON.CO and TOUCHDOWN.CO, among others.

To participate in the T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Live Auction, bidders will either have to attend in person or bid by telephone. Click here to register to attend and/or to become pre-qualified to bid via telephone.

About .CO Internet S.A.S.
.CO Internet S.A.S. is the Registry Operator for the .CO top-level domain.   The .CO domain offers individuals, organizations and businesses a truly global, recognizable and credible web address for branding their online presence. Thanks to leading-edge technology, enhanced security and unprecedented rights protections, the .CO domain is poised to become the premier web address. For more information about the .CO Registry, please visit http://www.Opportunity.CO— or follow us on Twitter @dotCO

.XXX Purchases “All Cash”

Elliot Silver
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One thing is for sure with regards to this year’s Traffic conference – a lot of people are talking about .XXX domain names. You really can’t help but notice the presence of .XXX and the ICM Registry, and that has people talking.

In public and private, I have heard a number of people asking if the publicly announced deals have been all cash.  Gay.XXX was reportedly sold for $500,000, Frank Schilling bought a small batch of .XXX domain names for seven figures, and Mike Berkens bought three .XXX domain names.

Of course, there is a BIG difference between someone writing a check for (or wiring) $500,000 USD vs. someone providing in-kind services like public relations or having some type of rebate in lieu of actual cash.

I saw ICM Registry CEO Stuart Lawley this afternoon and I asked him about the deals. I was told that the deals have been entirely cash, with no refunds, rebates, or anything else. That should settle that question many people have been asking.

NameCheap “Windfall” Helps Save The Elephants

Elliot Silver
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Save the ElephantsIn March, a video of  Go Daddy CEO Bob Parsons  hunting “problem” elephant  in Zimbabwe” was posted on Video.me. This video angered and disappointed many people, including passionate domain owners who pledged to take their business elsewhere as a result.

Rival domain registrar, NameCheap, made a special offer for people who wanted to transfer domain names out of GoDaddy. In fact, they actually made an offer that cost them money, since the transfer price was less than the cost they pay for each domain name.  NameCheap also pledged to donate $1.00 for every transfer to the non-profit  Save the Elephants  organization.

The offer allowed NameCheap to donate more than $30,000 to Save the Elephants, and that donation was greatly appreciated. In a note to NameCheap posted on its Facebook wall for customers to read, Save the Elephants wrote, “you were the windfall from out of the blue and you really helped us this year. Thank you so much.”

I like seeing non-traditional fundraising efforts, and this one really helped a good cause.  I suppose Mr. Parsons’ elephant hunting trip ended up helping elephants in unexpected ways.

Castello Brothers Rocking

Elliot Silver
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My wife and I decided to spend a few days in south Florida before the Traffic conference begins. Yesterday afternoon, we took a short trip to West Palm Beach to visit the Green Market for lunch. I highly recommend checking it out if you’re in the area.

The visit reminded me to call David Castello (who owns WestPalmBeach.com) to ask if I’d see him at the conference, since he and his brother Michael attend many domain-related events. Unfortunately, he won’t be attending, but the call gave us a chance to catch up, and some big things are happening for CCIN.

On the business side of things, the company is close to finalizing a “major investment deal with investors in Toronto.” Aside from their well known geodomain assets (PalmSprings.com, Nashville.com, LagunaBeach.com…etc), David and Michael own a portfolio of descriptive domain names like Whisky.com, Kennel.com, Cost.com, Rate.com, and others.

The Castello Brothers just returned from a trip to Toronto, and this investment deal would certainly be big news in the domain space. I don’t have details about the type of investment deal that they’re discussing, but I was told it’s quite significant.

Bree Pelkey and David Castello

On the personal side of things, David is rocking and rolling in Nashville – for real. In February of 2010, David played a drum solo at the Hard Rock in Vegas at the Traffic conference. To warm up, he decided to jam at a night club in Palm Springs, where he met a couple of girls who six months later later introduced him to a musician named Bree (on her 21st birthday).

To make a long story short, Bree and David have been joined at the hip ever since and Bree’s career is taking off in Nashville in a big way.   David’s drumming for Bree and he’s also managing her career (David has a long history in the music business as a drummer, manager and promoter before he and his brother launched CCIN). For the last several months, David’s been burning the candle at both ends… living the life of a rock star!

I am bummed about not having the chance to hang out with David and Michael, but I am excited to hear about all of the goings on with CCIN.

Domain Holdings Hires Ryan Colby as SVP of Product Management

Elliot Silver
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DomainHoldings.comIn the past year or so, Ryan Colby sold a number of high value domain names as a domain broker at Sedo, including Jerusalem.com ($510k), GamesForGirls.com ($500k) Logo.com ($500k), Consolidation.com ($220k) and many others. Colby was also instrumental in landing one of the nicest portfolio exclusive listings  I’ve seen, with domain names like Holidays.com, Spain.com, Italy.com, Dad.com, and many others.

A few months ago, I learned that Colby resigned from his post at Sedo and recently learned that he took a position at Domain Holdings, where he is Senior Vice President Of Product Management. Domain Holdings is the rapidly growing company in south Florida founded by Secret Millionaire, John Ferber, and domain industry veteran, Chad Folkening.

Ryan’s primary role with the company is to drive revenues and oversee various product lines within the organization.   “Domain Holdings Group   provides a true life-cycle management solution for domain owners which includes domain acquisitions, development, monetization and divestment.   We are bridging the gap in the marketplace by bringing these four areas together like no other company,  ” he explained.

Although Sedo has lost several key brokers in the last several months, I was surprised that Ryan left given the high value exclusive brokerage agreement he had just secured, as well as his success with the company.

I  asked him what led him to his decision, and he shared some insight.  “Sedo is a first class organization where I had the unique opportunity to learn the fundamentals of high value domain name brokerage,” said Colby. “I felt like it was time in my career to take a pause and re-evaluate new opportunities on a broader scale if they presented themselves.”

One big change the Ryan will surely experience first hand is the warm Florida weather.  Ryan told me that  “the culture of South Florida is much different than what I’m used to and has been a welcomed change. I’m enjoying the amazing weather and restaurants in downtown Delray Beach.”

Ryan is active on Twitter, and you can follow his feed: @rjcolby. I wish him all the best success in his new position at Domain Holdings.

Sedo Gets Exclusive Listing on TeaParty.com Domain Name

Elliot Silver
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Just about a month ago, Bloomberg BusinessWeek posted an article about TeaParty.com and how the domain name could generate quite a bit of money for its rock band owners. The  gist  of the article was that “interest in teaparty.com is intense now but could plummet if the domain’s owners hang on too long.”

With the next presidential election fast approaching, it seems that the owners are under the same impression. According to a news release this morning, TeaParty.com is now listed for sale exclusively at Sedo. Based on the TeaParty.com sales page at Sedo, it appears that Dave Evanson is the broker for this domain name.

The BusinessWeek article created even more interest in the domain name, and the owners thought it would be a good time to try and sell it.  “We were floored by the worldwide press and interest in our domain name teaparty.com that soon followed the initial story in Businessweek.  After being overwhelmed by the multiple offers that were arriving daily, we thought it was prudent to seek out the best brokerage to help represent the band, and Sedo was the clear choice,” said Stuart Chatwood, bass player of The Tea Party.

In my opinion, the timing would seem right for a big deal to happen. Hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent on  campaigns  to elect the next president, and owning a domain name like this can be helpful. As I said in a previous post about the value of TeaParty.com, “the band could move to something like TeaPartyBand.com or TeaPartyMusic.com or something they could hand register.”

Congrats to Sedo on getting this exclusive listing, and I wish them the best in selling it.

 

Press Release:

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., October 15, 2011 – Sedo, the leading online domain marketplace and monetization provider, today announced that TeaParty.comwill be listed exclusively for sale at Sedo. Highly relevant, timely and easy to remember, this exclusive domain name offers an unprecedented branding and investment opportunity to capitalize on the approaching election season.

Currently owned by Canadian rock band The Tea Party, the site was developed in the ’90s to educate fans about upcoming tour dates and other details for fans about the band. Over two decades years later, as the United States heads into the 2012 elections, the domain has gained significant relevance, and has already generated substantial interest from a wide range of political groups. The band has also received considerable international interest and garnered press coverage from the likes of Businessweek, Time and The Guardian on pure speculation that they were thinking of entertaining offers for the domain name.

“We were floored by the worldwide press and interest in our domain name teaparty.com that soon followed the initial story in Businessweek. After being overwhelmed by the multiple offers that were arriving daily, we thought it was prudent to seek out the best brokerage to help represent the band, and Sedo was the clear choice,” said Stuart Chatwood, bass player of The Tea Party.

“It’s very rare when a domain name of this value and significance becomes available – especially one that is so timely and relevant,” said Kathy Nielsen, director of sales at Sedo. “With the election season right around the corner, TeaParty.com provides the right investor with very significant marketing and revenue opportunities very few domain names can offer today. We are very pleased to be chosen as the exclusive brokerage firm to represent this domain sale.”

Parties interested in buying TeaParty.com domain should contact Sedo at consult@sedo.com.

About Sedo
Sedo, an acronym for “Search Engine for Domain Offers,” is the leading domain marketplace and monetization provider. Headquartered in Cologne, Germany and with offices in London, England and Cambridge, Mass., Sedo has assembled the world’s largest database of domain names for sale, with more than 18 million listings. The success of Sedo’s model has attracted a global membership base of more than 1 million domain professionals and end-users. For more information, visit www.Sedo.com.

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